Nokia N95 8GB Review: First impressions of Nokia's Schmexy Multimedia Marvel (proto)

[Jose_R.A.M]

Nokia N95 8GB Review: First impressions of Nokia's Schmexy Multimedia Marvel (proto)

Related Info:

• Review of Original N95
• N95 8GB Technical Specifications
• N95 8GB Device Details

30th August 2007 18:00:00 (Began writing on the train home on N800)

Today, I was in London. Although I missed much of the main event, I still got hands on with the N95 8GB. Having arrived so early this morning, I got the opportunity to have some of one on one with the N95 whilst everyone was still in their hotel room sleeping/waking up/getting dressed.

Looks/Build


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First impressions? It looks much nicer in person, very, very schmexy, shiiiiiiny piano black and gun metal soft keys. Keypad lights, as well as music keys are in a smart contrasting white.

Slide is very solid in either directions. Multimedia keys are raised and provide a much improved 'bounciness'.
The softkeys, although shrunk down a bit, are still comfortable. Multimedia and main menu keys are also raised, as opposed to being flat in the original.

Position of ports/speakers are all identical to the original N95, except for the lack of a memory card door and slot as there is none. Although more or less identical in shape, the N95 8GB can be placed on its side for timed photos much more easily, a feat the N95 could do only by sliding open the keypad.

Battery cover has lost that stupid flimsy catch that users have reported to snapping thus making the battery cover either less effective or useless. Now it uses these thick short stubs to keep the battery cover in place, less prone to snapping even if you attempted to break it.

Both original and 8GB version are listed as 21mm thick, with the N95 being marginally thicker overall as it's completely flat at 21mm whereas the original is mainly 20mm except for the protruding camera. The N95 8GB looks much thicker than it is because of the uniform black look. The original N95 is two tone and so the last 3.5mm are separated by the silver front, conversely making it appear slimmer than it is.

Most noticeable is the missing protrusion at the back of the N95 8GB. Nokia has done away with the protective sliding-star-trek-shutter-doors and now leaves it open for possible greasy finger prints, dirt, dust and pocket scratches (scratches that phone received when being in a pocked filled with other items, like keys/coins). Whether this helps with camera performance as speculated check out the Camera section of this 'article'.

Materials used are mainly plastic, but that doesn't make it feel cheap. In fact, the overall look delivers an outward appearance that reflects all that's going on inside it, and the price you'll have to pay in order to acquire one of these babies. Downside maybe is that it is more prone to finger print marks, so keep a lint-free cloth close. Held side by side, personally, I prefer the feel of the N95 8GB. Not least because of the extra features, but with the added weight of 8g combined with the new materials, my hands instinctively appreciated embracing more substantial and robust handset.

The Screen:



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I was surprised by the display. The "smaller" screened N73/93 was slightly brighter than the larger N95 and was expecting the same again. Even more so because Nokia's other 2.8 incher from Eseries looked a shade above dull.

However, it was bright, vivid and crisp. Stefan of intomobile.com noted that it was actually brighter than the original N95. Like the 2.2" to 2.4" and 2.4" to 2.6", 2.6" to 2.8", although only 0.2" difference on paper, makes a world of difference when viewing a mobile phone screen. For one, it's a lot more comfortable for your eyes not having to focus on such small fonts and makes viewing pictures/videos a more pleasant experience. Despite the fact that the display is still QVGA, as opposed to the rumored VGA, it still looks darn good and there shouldn't be much complaint over the gained screen realty. I haven't done enough exhaustive testings on different applications to see if there has been any obvious, unsightly stretching but I definitely welcome a bigger screen.

Speed/Responsiveness:

On start-up, the N95 8GB got to the standby screen from "off" 10 seconds faster than my N95 did. Having said that, my N95 did reduce start up speed significantly since beta stage and now crawls around 33 seconds. N93 is still faster (even with its ancient firmware).

Over all, menu is extremely nippy. Only hiccups are issues expected from PROTO.

Camera



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One problem of the n95 is the SLOOOOW camera. Perfect for taking buildings, landscape, scenic pictures, still macros and all manner of permanently static objects, but forget it if there's something moving. Like, er, people and pets. I'm not talking about the sometimes insanely long auto-focus period as you can stop that by simply using SPORT mode.

As all N95 users know, the N95 snails the camera start up. By the time you get the ready-to-capture stage, your beloved pet in that ever so cute once-in-a-blue-moon pose would have moved away. People have a slightly longer tolerance, but not much. By the time you've got an auto-focus lock, your friends/relatives would have also left and you either get a severe flesh toned blur or a picture of a wall (or whatever the background happens to be).

Why? Most people are used to instant snaps. They stand for a couple of seconds and assume the picture is done and move. A couple of seconds more, your N95 camera hasn't even started yet. It doesn't even have the excuse of being a pin hole camera and needing lengthy exposure times. N95 just had a frikkin slow camera for capturing moments almost always lost in an instant.

Finally, when you've managed to endure the wait and captured the photo, and want to capture another because this blurred, you're slapped in the face for a third time with extremely long save times.

OK, maybe it's not a total tortoise, but it's annoying considering it (was?) Nokia's most powerful imaging phone and it cannot be a simple point and shoot.

To activate the camera, you hold/long-press the camera/capture button. Unfortunately, the N95 8GB is ALSO still very slow to start up. Contrary to some speculation, the removal of the camera activating slider shutter cover does not make the N95 8GB any faster.

HOWEVER, it is now much quicker at getting locking auto-focus and much quicker to save. At least you can do successive quicker shots now but you'll still miss that first shot, the shot that inspired you would whip out your N95 8GB to try and capture such a rare and quickly fleeting moment.


(If you're an N95 user, you've most likely trained your friends/relatives to stand still for awkwardly long lengths of time to capture photos, "You know the drill! Stand still, stand still! It hasn't even turned on yet. No wait - it's still focusing. Get back there...dude, you moved!")

Photo-quality


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Well not really fair to say, especially after the lens was mostly covered in greasy print marks or dust. I'm not sure if it's scratch proof material, I hope so, I 'daren't' test that at the time. At the moment, it looked pretty blurry. But conditions today were pretty horrendous for picture taking. I wasn't able to get as much pictures from the device because I had to transfer files over bluetooth (No memory card slot for immediate transfers between devices or via card reader)

Software changes:

I'll admit, I didn't take time to check this out in great detail. I'll update you, if you haven't been already, when I find out. But there's a lot of changes, music player, multimedia menu, new applications, n-gage platform - tons more.

Battery:

The Achilles heel of the original N95. All that brute force under the hood but no stamina. You're perpetually involved in a catch-22 situations like "I'm lost. Should I use my GPS to find out where I am? But wait, if I do, the battery could die and I won't be able to use the other features later on"

The N95 8GB is supposed to take the purpose built BL-6F, 1200mAh of power, 26% more capacity than before. The PROTO we got only had the BL-5F. I was disappointed, but at the same time, impressed that my spare BL-5F batteries won't go to waste (should I switch to this handset). The huge 2.8" screen, I would have thought would suck that battery dry pretty quick but somehow it managed to last from just before 9am till about 3pm with one bar left. Usage varied a lot as during the day it passed onto a lot of hands, all eager to try it out. Needless to say it had some moderate to high usage of that screen, either just browsing the phone, the web, sending files over bluetooth and taking (over 100) photos. (I'll check to see if perhaps they swapped a battery half way as that sounds too good to be true)

Until we actually get to use of a single BL-6F from full charge, we won't really have any solid idea of battery life.

A little change on how to remove (at least the BL-5F) battery, instead of lifting up the battery with a fingernail as the original had been designed to, you must SLAP the battery out of the N95 8GB. Perhaps though, with the thicker BL-6F, you won't have to do that slapping (not sure direct force is gonna do your phone much good to such a sensitive piece of equipment if you do it too often)

RAM:

Reportedly 84mb free RAM after start up. That's 4 times the pittance of 20mb original N95 users got. More RAM = more multitasking. Or so I had hoped. Being a PROTO, it crashed often. Even with single applications, it would sometimes grind to a halt and ignore your key-presses until slap the battery out of it.

[Jose_R.A.M]

Overall impression:



It's been said before and I might as well repeat it, the N95 8GB is what the original N95 should have been. It lacked the extra RAM and Battery that should hopefully solve the two main disappointments to N95 users. Having said that, it was essential for the N95 to have come out as it was then, to set a standard and raise the bar on high end multimedia devices. To this day, apart from the 8GB version itself, nothing on the market nor nothing coming soon packs the same punch as the N95. It has earned a following; with its praises and equally moans. Together with N95 users and Nseries consumers input, Nokia has integrated long awaited improvements that many potential N95 8GB users will find both undeniably irresistible and useful for their own personal mobile electronic needs.

The N95 8GB has also gone through external changes that mirror the internal progress made. Sleek, luxury, high-end Nseries 'multimedia computer' that can finally, (as long as Nokia releases a very stable version and lives up to the specifications) claim brains, brawn and beauty in one relatively compact device.

If you can't tell, I'm very pleased with the PROTO overall. There are a few niggles, majority need/should not be mention because it is just a prototype. Although it has impressed me, that is only because it fits the demanding type of mobile user that I am. This will not be for everyone, for some it may just be overkill. You may dislike the lack of camera shutter cover and hot swap micro SD cards. Although on further thought I cannot reconcile lack of protection for the camera, the lack of memory card expansion is somewhat compensated with 8GB of internal memory. There are more advantages/disadvantages on the point of missing memory card expansion but I'm sure you can decide that and what's best for you based on your own needs.


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+Pros

New sleek black look
More RAM
Bigger Battery Life
8GB internal memory
N95's bundle of features

-Cons

Price
No protective camera cover
No memory card expansion
Fat Chunky Monkey by today's slim-phone standard

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I will update this with pictures after I get some rest. Right now my brain hurts because it cries for sleep and punishing me by making the room spin : p

Haha, Seriously though, I may still have to change and update this, but I thought I'd let you know my initial impresisons of the Nokia's N95 8GB

[Jose_R.A.M]

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[Jose_R.A.M]

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[Jose_R.A.M]

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[Jose_R.A.M]

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[jayesh]

Intriguing review Jose...

Looking forward to the images

[maverick786us]

Can its battery be fitted in N95 classic?? Because I am thinking of purchasing this battery and fit it in my N95

[zalameh1]

nice picture and nice review!! i was hoping the camera would be faster, maybe the final version will be improved (pleeease nokia)..

[Jose_R.A.M]

Originally Posted by jayesh

Intriguing review Jose...

Looking forward to the images

Uploading as I type

Originally Posted by maverick786us

Can its battery be fitted in N95 classic?? Because I am thinking of purchasing this battery and fit it in my N95

Unfortunately, there weren't any BL-6Fs with the WOMWorld team to try fitting it in the original.

Originally Posted by zalameh1

nice picture and nice review!! i was hoping the camera would be faster, maybe the final version will be improved (pleeease nokia)..

Sorry it was just the one, haha, after 1h sleep in a 48h period I just had to go to bed. More's coming within the hour (or two it seems, as FLOCK is playing up)

You're right though, I forgot to mention this but since this is just the proto, the final version has a lot of potential to improve in speed of camera activation.

[BeerBong]

excellent review like always jose!!
i can't wait to get it in my hands, better today than tomorrow ... you lucky guy!!

so you think the slider is what you say "Rock-Solid"?!? ..

[Jose_R.A.M]

Originally Posted by BeerBong

excellent review like always jose!!
i can't wait to get it in my hands, better today than tomorrow ... you lucky guy!!

so you think the slider is what you say "Rock-Solid"?!? ..

Thanks Michael.


Yes, very good build quality.

N81 8GB slider feels much better though as that has a single direction, spring assisted mechanism.

____

Look at this awesome pic guys,

N95 Black Diamond by DanielKHC, Daniel Cheong at Flickr



( Click to visit DanielKHC direct from Flickr )

[Crumbles]

I really don't understand what Nokia is doing here. They have sold millions of the N95 when it first came out. Do they seriously think that millions of people are going to buy this newer version only a few months later?

Nokia should have just skipped this and incorporated all of these improvements into the successor to the N95.

I'm pretty happy with my N95, I think I'll save my money and wait until the next N95 series phone comes out. I can't imagine it will be that long before someone leaks photos or stats of the next N95 line phone...

[mweb6161onMB]

Maybe this is just the ticket for all of us who held off from the N95 because of it's well documented failings.
This newer upgraded model rights a lot of wrongs and ticks all the right boxes in my book.

[Crumbles]

Originally Posted by mweb6161onMB

Maybe this is just the ticket for all of us who held off from the N95 because of it's well documented failings.
This newer upgraded model rights a lot of wrongs and ticks all the right boxes in my book.

Yes, for the people who held off this is better. Well, not for the US since the 8 gig upgraded one doesn't have a US version...

However, MILLIONS of the N95 have been sold. Maybe you and a few others will finally jump on board. But again, not worth the effort for Nokia to really do this. They should have just made the N96 or whatever and incorporate the fixes in the next Nseries phone.

You're problem is now that you've waited almost a year to buy the thing, you think it's a good time to buy. So, what are you going to do in Q1 of 2008 when Nokia announces the next Nseries phone? You just spent $700 to have it for only a few months when you could have waited and got the next Nseries phone with all of these fixes, plus whatever else the manage to add to the next one.